Bachelor of Science in Nursing
ABSN (Accelerated, 4-term) Second Degree Option
BSN (6-term) Option for First and Second Degree Students

2008-2009 Application Guidelines

INSTRUCTIONS

The BSN application is revised each year, thus it is critical that all applicants carefully read and follow the instructions provided here and contained on each screen of the electronic application. Each applicant is responsible for ensuring that s/he completes and submits the application correctly. This is the ONLY application you must complete and submit.

Conversations about the School of Nursing’s admissions process with current nursing students and/or applicants to previous cycles may lead to applicant confusion and an incorrectly completed application – which may ultimately jeopardize the likelihood of your admission. As such, it is most important that you clearly understand the process and address questions ONLY to the School of Nursing's Undergraduate Admissions Specialist via sonugadmissions@unc.edu. 

DETERMINING YOUR APPLICANT STATUS

When creating your homepage you must first determine your applicant status.  Please refer to the following to make sure you choose the correct application to complete:

Supplemental Nursing: UNC-CH undergraduate junior (will have completed sophomore year or are in junior year); UNC-CH non-graduating senior (no degree prior to beginning nursing courses)

Readmit Nursing: UNC-CH bachelor’s degree graduate (2nd degree); former UNC-CH undergraduate (1st or 2nd degree from other school)

Transfer Nursing: undergraduate transfer from other school; earned bachelor’s from other school (2nd degree); earned associate from other school (1st degree)

If you have earned a bachelor’s degree at any time in the past you are considered a second-degree applicant (a graduate with a  bachelor’s degree).  If you are currently enrolled in a degree program at another school, or if you have subsequently earned an associate degree or are in an associate degree program now, you are still considered second-degree if you have an earned bachelor’s degree in any field.

Key Points:

• All second degree applicants must have earned their first bachelor’s degree PRIOR to the application submission deadline for the BSN Program.
• At the time of application, each applicant must have an earned cumulative GPA of minimally :
• 3.0 to apply to the ABSN (Accelerated, 4-term) Option, or
• 2.5 to apply to the BSN (6-term) Option.

COMPETITIVENESS

Admission to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in the School of Nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill is very competitive. Students are selected on the basis of several factors, to include academic records, performance in science courses, application content, and your written response to specific essay questions. Applicants are not interviewed; as such, the application must represent you as optimally as possible.

It is also important to note that simply “meeting” admission criteria in no way guarantees an applicant an offer of admission. For example, the mean cumulative GPA of those offered admission is considerably higher than the established minimum cumulative GPA for the Option. Lastly, strong performance in required science courses is critical.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Application submission deadline: BOTH the online application AND all associated application materials MUST be submitted/postmarked by the deadline for the application to be considered for review. Late receipt of either element will render the application ineligible for admission consideration. Late applications will NOT be reviewed. Transfer or Readmission Applications submitted without application fee will not be reviewed (Supplemental Applications are exempt from the fee requirement)
• August 10, 2008 at 11:59 pm EDST for Spring/January 2009 admission;
• January 10, 2009 at 11:59 pm EST for Summer/May 2009 admission.

• Matriculation for 2008:
• Spring/January - January 9, 2008;
• Summer/May - May 13, 2008

GETTING STARTED

To begin, you must first follow the instructions for establishing a homepage via the UNC-Chapel Hill Undergraduate Admissions webpage. Once your page is established, either follow the links to the application or return to the School of Nursing application page and select “Bachelor of Science in Nursing” and begin your application.

Each application is comprised of two components:

1. the thirteen online data screens and requisite uploaded information submitted electronically, AND
2. the related materials submitted via USPS or personal delivery.

Submission /postmark of both components by the deadline is necessary for an application to be considered complete. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

APPLICATION TIPS & REMINDERS

• Read each part (screen) of the application very carefully and follow all instructions provided.


• Education History: In Part 3, list EACH school you have attended or plan to attend prior to matriculation into the School of Nursing. Failure to do so is considered a falsification of your application. Do not omit any school attended since you graduated high school, including UNC-CH if you are a current student.


• Courses listed “In Progress” on the Course Grid, entered in Part 6, will be used as a binding Course Plan for completion of prerequisites. Your application review will focus markedly on this plan. Enter as “In Progress” only those courses you intend to complete in the semester (fall or spring) following the submission of your application.  All other courses should be listed as completed even if you do not yet have a grade.  Each course grid entry must include course name, number and offering institution.  Courses will be verified by transcript review.  If, for any reason, you change you course plan, YOU MUST NOTIFY US IN WRITING OR VIA EMAIL. Failure to do so is considered a falsification of your application.


• Your responses to the Essays Questions are to be placed in a single document and saved as a MS Word “.doc” file. Place page breaks between the essays so they will print out on separate sheets. If you do not follow the instructions correctly, your essays will not upload correctly. Note: you are limited to a maximum of two double-spaced pages per essay (6 pages total), all type should be at least size 11 font.


• Recommendations are NOT required for the 2009 BSN application.

One official transcript from each college/university attended since high school is to be sent directly to the Office of Admissions and Student Services, School of Nursing. One official transcript from each college/university attended since high school and one official transcript from each high school attended from the 9th grade through 12th grade are to be sent directly to the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Undergraduate Admissions. If course credits earned at one college/university appear as transfer credits on the transcript of a second school, we must have an official transcript from the school originally issuing the course credits.

Continuing UNC-CH undergraduate students (General College or Intra-University Transfer Students) need submit only one official (or Internal) UNC-CH transcript directly to the School of Nursing, IF UNC-CH is the only college/university ever attended. If you attended any college/ university in addition to UNC-CH, the School of Nursing requires an official transcript from each of the “other” institutions.

Official transcripts bear the signature of the college/university registrar and the seal of the institution, and are mailed in original sealed envelopes. Transcripts lacking signature, the school seal or that arrive in an opened or otherwise tampered envelope are not considered official. All transcripts must be postmarked by the deadline or your application will not be considered complete and will not be reviewed.

• Note: Applicants admitted prior to completing all coursework must submit official transcripts of these courses before the end of the first month of the enrollment term (i.e. Fall semester transcripts for students admitted in January, must be received by the end of January).

All applicants must be admissible to all previously attended colleges/universities. If you have been declared “academically ineligible” and as such are unable to return to any previous institution, you must contact that institution and seek documentation that reinstates your eligibility or your application cannot undergo review. Copies of ALL correspondence regarding your reinstatement request must be submitted to the School of Nursing.  Additionally, if your final institutional cumulative GPA is below 2.0, please provide documentation of your eligibility to return to that particular institution.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

• Only applications received by the deadline and meeting the minimum cumulative GPA requirements are eligible for admission consideration. It is your responsibility to insure that ALL aspects of the electronic application are completed accurately and thoroughly, and your essays plus any other attachments are uploaded successfully prior to submission. It is imperative that you fully submit the electronic portion of the application. Doing so will generate a system email five minutes (typically ~ 90 seconds) following successful submission. If you do not receive this confirmatory email, please recheck your application to make sure all steps were successfully completed, and then submit again. Contact the Office of Admissions and Student Services with any submission issues. Applications submitted after the deadline are ineligible for admission review.
• Ensure that your transcripts are postmarked prior to the application deadline.

APPLICATION TRACKING

• Missing items will be noted on your application and you may view them through your homepage. The Admissions Committee will only review complete applications.
• It is imperative that you keep your contact information current. The School of Nursing will correspond with you via email; your email address can be updated on your application via your homepage.

OUTCOME NOTIFICATION

General College and Intra-University Transfer Applicants :
The School of Nursing will notify all applicants of Admissions Committee decisions in writing. Applicants will either receive an offer of admission, an offer for placement on the wait-list or be denied admission.

Transfer or Readmit Applicants:
The School of Nursing notifies the University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions of recommended outcomes for each applicant in the “transfer and readmit” categories. The School also issues written offers of admission to the most highly rated applicants contingent upon final and official review by the University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Any deficiency during this final application review (residency form, application fee, etc.) will detrimentally impact decision verification. If the School’s recommendation for admission is approved by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the applicant will receive an official offer of admission to the University and the School of Nursing. Additionally, written wait list offers and denial decisions are issued by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to remaining applicants.

INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS

Second-degree applicants with earned degrees from non-US colleges or universities should provide the following additional information:

• A copy of your diploma from all post-secondary schools from which you graduated showing when a degree (or its equivalent) was awarded as well as certified English translation of these documents


• An official or attested original transcript from all post-secondary schools attended as well as certified English translation of each transcript


• An original copy of an independently conducted verification of your academic credentials by an education evaluation service. This assessment must include a course-by-course evaluation showing credit hours and letter grade equivalency as well as validation of US equivalency of all degrees earned.


• Note: A US bachelor’s degree is based on four years of study and is required of all international applicants without exception. If your non-US degree is not validated as equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree, you may consider applying to the University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions as a freshman.


• If the official language in your country of origin is other than English, you must provide proof of English language proficiency by providing acceptable scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A copy of your official scores should be submitted to the School along with your Application Materials. An exemption may be requested if you have earned a degree from a US institution.


• If you have completed any of the six pre-requisite courses outside the US that are specific to second-degree applicants, you must contact the Undergraduate Admissions Specialist in the Office of Admissions & Student Services to discuss your options for gaining transfer credit.

REAPPLICANTS

The School of Nursing retains applicant files (containing the application and related materials) for those denied admission for a period of one year. Applicants, who applied to the School in 2008 and choose to reapply for the 2009 admission cycles, must complete the online application in its entirety (i.e., essays uploaded for previous application are not retained), and submit official college transcripts reflecting coursework completed since last application.

Applicants who use the same login and password to access the online application will have the demographic data fields of the application populated by the information you entered during the last cycle. Make sure you double check these fields as well as completing the remainder of the thirteen sections of the application. No application data are available from previous cycles.

FINAL REMINDER

The Admissions Committee is comprised of faculty members who teach in the undergraduate program. They thoroughly review each complete application submitted by deadline. Each year 20-25% of all applications received are withdrawn from the review process due to application inaccuracies, failure to complete pre-requisite courses as planned, or an incomplete application (i.e. missing transcript). We urge you to take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening to you.

GOOD LUCK!

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